The War Path
by Sasha Erin Alexain
Summary: There's word on the streets that things are changing. Criminals have been more active lately, and Judy has had no shortage of work to do. A series of events will lead her onward, she will have to face many trials in the upcoming weeks. An assignment opens a door she'd never thought about before, and Judy will need to decide what road she will go down. Chapter 2 up. 3 in progress.
1. Chapter 1

The station was abuzz with activity today, moreso than usual.

Judy narrowly managed to avoid a rhino stepping on her as he rushed by, his arms full with important paperwork. He offered a fast apology as he hurried onward to wherever he was headed. Judy waved him off in acknoledgement and continued dutifully toward her own destination. Chief Bogo wanted to talk to her for some reason, which usually either meant she'd done something he didn't like, or he had a new assignment for her. It was only a month into her job after reinstatement, and she'd been proving her worth over and over since the rather hectic 'Belleweather Fiasco', as the newspapers had recently taken to referring to when predators had been going wild and rabid due to being targeted with an incredibly potent serum made from nighthowler flowers.

With the rather cunning Belleweather and her known associates behind bars, everything had actually turned fairly normal in terms of police work. Not that Judy could, or would complain. She'd made several arrests the past few weeks ranging from petty thefts, to full-on assault, to even some arson by an incredibly twitchy ferret. However Bogo had not particularly liked how she'd handled a few of the cases, apparently her having been too reckless with her attitude, even if it did gain good results; so she suspected this particular summon was to chastise her for her actions yet again. After todays arrest on a very uncooperative panther named Drake, and quite an overuse of the station-issued stunguns, she wasn't surprised.

She really hadn't meant to overdo it and actually burn the poor bastard from a taser of all things, but he'd cornered her with a spiked baseball bat, and she'd certainly felt the stungun was a better idea than trying to take on a beefy panther in hand-to-hand combat when she didn't even have a damn baton.

She smiled when she passed the front desk, it was Spo there today, also a newbie to the force. She was a small white mouse with adorable oversized ears and a punky hairstyle, having wanted to get onto the force since she was a kid just as Judy had done, who had taken the leap after inspiration from Judy's example. It made her proud of her efforts that she made a positive impact on others lives. A wave to the mouse, and she went past down the way to Bogo's office.

Stopping before the heavy oak door, she straightened her uniform out and took in a breath before knocking gently.

"Come in, Hopps." came Bogo's voice from the other side of the door, evidently he'd seen her through the glass either side of the door. Usually his head was too far buried in paperwork to notice right away. She went for a confident walk, pacing in with her back straight and her eyes focused on Bogo. His eyes scanned upward and met hers as she was inches from the desk. He gestured impassively to the seat in front of it, taking off his reading glasses and putting down the papers he was currently looking over. "I understand it was you that bagged a panther today?"

"Yes Sir, listen, about-" She began, her confident demeanour already starting to falter before him, but he raised a hand to stop her.

"-The overzealous use of your weapon?" Bogo smiled, looking almost bored. "That was in your post-case report, yes. Got that one about half an hour ago. It's also on this formal complaint I have here from Drake that I got just a few minutes ago..." He lifted it up so she could plainly see it. It was the standard complaint form civillians and felons could both fill out to raise issue with the ZPD. It was clearly signed at the bottom by one _Drake Frankie Rock_. She grimaced slightly, but kept Bogo's stare, not thinking to look away. Bogo gently leaned forwards with it still in hand, still smiling that bored smile, and quickly took his other hand to rip the form cleanly in two. "...Which I do not care one little iota for."

That was a surprise.

"S-sir? Are you allo-"

"No. Not at all. But Drake is a sorry excuse for a mammal that pushes drugs, regularly assaults my officers, and nearly beat down the ZPD's Poster Girl." Bogo said, leaning backwards to discard the two halves into the rubbish bin next to his desk. Judy's cheeks flared red a little in embarrasment at the remark obviously aimed at her. That was another one the papers had taken to using. 'Judy Hopps: Model police officer of the ZPD!' She was proud that she was a good officer in the public eye, but hearing Bogo use the moniker was quite odd, mainly because she knew it wasn't meant as an endearment. "As it stands, he's a thorn in my side that is no longer present, that earns you some points in my books. I'm still not a happy kitten that you're causing chaos wherever you go, no, but you do get things done, can't deny that at all." He nodded, leaning towards her again. "No... the reason I called you to my office is because... I intend to promote you." He stated, his face turning from that bored smile to a fairly genuine one. He raised his hand again before Judy could do anything, seeing the spark of excitement in her eyes and her entire frame simply bounding up in milliseconds. His smile faded as he started speaking again. "But! This is provisional, for now. Like I say, you're reckless, but you get the job done and this is in recognition of that fact, but you need to tone it right down and toe the line. The second I see that, it'll be an official rank of Corporal. There's no shiny pins, but it does come with a higher pay grade than the standard an officer gets."

Judy nodded eagerly. "Y-yes Sir! I'll be a good bunny, I promise! I said I wouldn't let you down before, and I intend to keep on doing that!" She mentally facepalmed at the words 'good bunny' having passed her lips in her excitement, but at least said comment amused Bogo somewhat, his smile widening slightly. It was kind of like seeing granite crack under pressure. "Do you... maybe have a new assignment for me, Sir?"

He considered her for a moment, looking down on the rabbit with inquisitive eyes.

"I'm not too sure, Hopps." He started, picking up his glasses again and placing them over the bridge of nose, taking an open folder into his hand off the desk. "I'm currently looking over the case file for _Xavier Dremond_ that came in this morning. His charges are multiple. From burglary, to petty thefts, to mugging, to full-on armed robbery and assault, as well as racial hate crimes against specific species of the same nature... this unfortunately came in on my desk because he's just had one new offence added to that list: Murder."

Bogo sighed, looking down at the papers within the folder again. Then back to her.

"He's a Predator, and is very dangerous. The murder was with his own claws." Bogo commented with distaste, placing the folder in front of her. Judy wasn't tall enough, so she quickly stood up onto the chair and rested her hands on the desk to read the file. There was a photo attached to the top of the folder of an angry looking tiger with a nasty scowl and a -Likely from when the photo was taken- half-closed swollen eye. The offences were there in full, and were quite numerous. He'd either only had short sentences of a few months for the smaller crimes, or had gotten out on bail, having served his longest sentence of a year and a half for the armed robbery, down from 3 years, getting out on account of good behaviour. Included were the photos of the crime scene from the murder.

Judy gasped at the blunt horror of the pictures, closing her eyes and looking away for a few seconds to regain her composure.

Bogo looked at her sternly, between her and the folder, really, as if to assess her adversion to the visceral nature of the criminals recent offence.

She forced herself to look back at the folder, her eyes wincing at the sight. Of course not everything was going to be sunshine and rainbows in this job, she knew that was an undeniable fact, to be fair she was surprised it had taken this long to truly see what this city held in terms of violence. She needed to get used to this for the future, not everything she did was going to be arresting petty thiefs. She wanted to make a difference, and that included taking down mammals like this tiger.

The first photo was of the victim before the crime. She gasped again. The victim was a rabbit.

Her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Racial hate-crime? Or coincidence that it was a rabbit?

"Its Muroidea and Leporidae he hates. Mice, rats, shrews, rabbits, hares... the like." Bogo had clearly gleaned her thoughts.

She nodded, looking again at the photo. The victim was _Sarah Loch,_ a silver-lop from a place south of Bunny Burrow called _Paddington_. She was just so carefree in the photo, with her ears down along her back, a toothy smile, and bright red eyes shining in the sunlight of the surrounding forest she'd had her picture taken in. Judy moved the photo aside to the next and noticeably recoiled back, her hand covering her mouth. Sarah was naked, laid out on her back with her eyes closed, arms crossed over her chest, and legs straight, but her throat had been... _destroyed._ It was as if the killer wanted to at least give her some dignity in death, but only created a creepy imitation of a peaceful death, no beauty in it. The other photos were close ups and different angles of the wound, all quite gory, as well as other injuries in the form of heavy bruising that was visible on her light fur colour, and a few cuts along her mid-section, arms, and legs.

The feeling of nausea was slowly creeping into the pit of her stomach, but she knew she wasn't going to be sick. It was just revulsion; this shouldn't happen, ever. Not to innocent people, not even to criminals, it was just simply wrong. Judy stepped back and sat down, shaking her head with confusion to the henious crime.

"Sir, I..." She started, glancing up to the Chief's eyes.

"It's alright, Hopps; you don't need to take this one." He intoned solemnly, "I shouldn't have showed you this. I'm sor-"

"No, Sir." Judy stated, actual defiance in her voice. She narrowed her eyebrows, her hands gripping the desk. "Don't be. Not at all. I _want_ this case."

Bogo raised his eyebrows quizzically, unsure of that. But he was actually surprised himself, as his thoughts on her were shifting about; Hopps expression had changed dramatically from the happy, incredibly chipper, if annoying rabbit he'd seen this past month. It was determined, as she usually appeared, but there was genuine disgust behind that look, there was intent written all over her face, her eyes screamed of vengence. He hesitated but for a moment.

"You're on it, then." He nodded, pushing the file across to her side of the desk. "I forwarded the case to Homicide already, so you can join it. Start there, and they'll see you in the right direction." He straightened up, his arms moving behind his back. "You help get this done properly, and by the book. No room for error here."

Judy nodded, that determined look was still etched into her features, he noted. It suited her, made her look striking, fierce... even for a bunny.

"Don't disappoint me." Bogo stated, taking his seat again.

"No, Sir. I wont. Sure as sure." Judy assured, taking steps to the door, file under arm. Her walk was as confident as her expression had been. She walked with the same determination. She knew her feelings had taken a turn there somewhere, she was much less happy having seen what lie within the folder, she felt sad, angry, but mostly disgusted... it wasn't too bad that she was though. Right she felt as if it she could only be happy again until this mammal was stopped, because he would do this again, and that fact gave her an extreme purpose. There wasn't nausea in her gut anymore, it had been replaced by a burning desire to put a stop to this barbaric animal. It was filling her mind with determination as she headed toward Homicide.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Damn I loved Zootopia. I also loved the original concept where Preds were collared and treated as second class citizens. This is going to be as gritty and violent as the original concept for Zootopia was, if not more. Lets hope this is a first chapter of many, eh?

Please leave a review if you liked it!

Edit: Fixed spelling mistakes and corrected some grammar issues.


	2. Chapter 2

The Homicide department was also a bustle of commotion this morning, apparently.

Judy wasted no time in going straight to the Lieutenants office. The Lieutenant however, was not present when she knocked on their door.

Tapping her foot a tad impatiently against the cold marble flooring, she wondered where _she_ would be if she was running this rather hectic place so filled with possibly work-stressed officers. So with a thought on heavy amounts of caffeine and cigarettes, she opted for going down to the departments break room, quickly getting inside as soon as she arrived, to the sound of off-duty officers laughing up a storm and chatting amongst themselves, some in serious conversation, others just relaxing and enjoying their precious time until the next shift. She sided around a beefy tiger that wasn't looking down before he stepped on her, making a mental note to politely ask Bogo to make a general awareness of smaller mammals around the precient. After all, there would be more mice like Spo working here at some point, it wouldn't do well if they were all trodden on.

She didn't know who the Lieutenant was, and in hindsight, maybe she should have asked when she was speaking to Bogo, but either way she simply decided to just get up onto a nearby coffee table and automatically draw stares. She was still fairly new, and the novelty of a rabbit as a police officer certainly hadn't quite worn off yet, why not use it to an advantage? She held the folder up in her dainty little hand and spoke up.

"I've been assigned to the murder case of Sarah Loch! Is the Lieutenant of Homicide here?"

A chuckle to her right turned her head towards a very confident looking blackbuck antelope with flowing long hair that was slowly walking towards her. Judy didn't manage to recognise whether they were male or female due to their figure, so until they began to speak -and even then it was a slightly husky, feminine sounding, voice- she wasn't too sure. She smiled politely all the same and raised her hand up for him in greeting. He shook it warmly with both hands, albeit... leisurely, and as if it was a performance.

"Hello, Miss Hopps. I'm Lieutenant Jack Strider. You got a penchant for attention, dontcha... How about we talk in my office, love?"

Judy smiled at his mannerisms, and his... strange way of talking. "Please, Sir."

He spun about on the spot, a smile on his muzzle, gesturing for her to follow with a very odd wave of his hand that looked more akin to a dance move. His pointed hooves clacking gently off the floor. "Just call me Jack, love. Everyone else does." He was silly, informal, and was easily the exact opposite of Bogo, right down to the body type. Slim, petite, graceful. Whereas Bogo was looming, powerful, and all swagger.

She liked him already.

Before she could go, a voice called out to her. Of course she knew it.

"Nick?" She turned about, looking for the cocky valiant fox she cared so much for. She spied him sitting between some officers, they were playing at a game of cards. No surprise to her at all that he had a massive stack of coin before himself. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to."

"I've been around. These Homicide boys know how to play a mean game of poker, but I'm just better." He grinned and winked, putting his cards face down, getting up to walk over and hug her gently. She breathed in his scent as she returned the heartfelt embrace, smiling as he did. "Good to see you, Carrots. You were pretty loud there, what was that? Murder case?"

She nodded. "Bogo's extending an olive branch to me here."

Nicks grin grew wider, nodding in that cocksure way he always did. The past few weeks had seen them together on many of the cases she'd been on. A few she'd been paired with others, but she never did feel as happy or as safe than when she was doing her work with Nick. He had a way of doing things, his slyness was actually quite invaluable, and his old 'business partner' Finnick knew an awful lot about the happenings on the streets.

"Good to see you moving on up." He laughed, his face the picture of gratification on her behalf. "I assume that means a promotion in the pipeline."

Nothing escaped him, it seemed.

"Well, hopefully." She did indeed hope. "Gotta toe the line, behave."

He laughed aloud for a beat, scritching behind her ears. "So you're not getting that promotion anytime soon, then?"

"Probably not." She gently joined his laughter to the joke, giving him a good punch on the arm in response. "And stop playing with my ears, really don't like it."

She actually loved it _a_ _lot_ , just... not in public.

"Sure, Carrots, sure." Nick winked again, knowing that quite well. "It's a murder case though, so the bad guys aint gonna be messing around or pulling their punches." He looked down, his smile becoming one that proved slightly sad. "You gotta be careful, alright? I don't wanna have to drag you out of danger myself."

"Like you wouldn't." She raised an eyebrow, she couldn't stop the small, smarmy smile from coming. "If anything, you'd be getting into trouble so I wouldn't have to, and I'd be the one dragging your sorry hide out of the fire."

"Whatever helps you sleep better, Judy." He said, patting her shoulder. "Go on, Jack there looks like he's waiting on you."

She turned and looked behind herself, Jack was certainly waiting, but he seemed amused by the scene.

"Right, course." Judy nodded, giving Nick another squeeze before going back to the Lieutenant. "Stay safe yourself, sly fox."

"So long as you do, dumb bunny." He replied, waving her goodbye.

She took off towards Jack, who walked to the exit of the break room, apparently quite unperturbed that she'd just dropped everything to speak to Nick.

Looking as if he was flowing through water, his hooves making more noise upon the marble flooring they exited the break room to. He sashayed through the halls of Homicide until they reached his office, several of the officers in the department had greeted him along the way as they would a best friend, even with friendly banter-like insults from a few. It was certainly odd for Judy to see, and she wasn't going to take that habit up, even if she did consider it. He held the door open for her, to which she thanked him and entered the incredibly compact room.

It was barely just bigger than her shabby little apartment, but it was organised in such a meticulous manner that it was almost spacious to the eyes, at the very least it was simply spartan, the bare necessities. Bogo would have one hell of a time trying to move freely in here. Strider took his seat, almost gingerly in a way, and intertwined his fingers, gazing at her. His jade coloured eyes traced over her, examining the well known rabbit officer.

"You're much taller in person, maybe it's the ears, eh? So, on the case are we?" He smiled genialy. "What can ol' Jack do to help with that then?"

After clearing her throat and smiling, quite politely, she began.

"Well, for one, Sir: I'd like to know how far things have progressed." Her anger from before that she'd felt was simmering now, replaced with an optimistic sensation that she was going to get things done. "And if there are any teams that'll have me in their group."

He laughed, clearly amused to the last part of that, as he tucked his shoulder-length hair behind an ear and continued that award winning charm. "Ah, you're still just so new, aren't ya? Asking for things as opposed to just expecting them. Always refreshing to see, you know. I appreciate it. Oh, take a seat, by all means." He gestured towards Judy, motioning her to take the seat that was currently at the end of his desk, and held his hand in the direction of the folder she had. "May I, lovey?"

She couldn't help but be slightly pleased. This was such a different animal to the Chief.

"Of course, Sir." She gave it to him as if it were precious cargo, or as if that petite hand of his would snap if she wasn't gentle enough. "Thank-you for seeing me as well, you were on break, after all. And apologies for just talking to my co-worker." She fidgeted until she was comfy, her ears twitching as the chair creaked almost painfully in protest to any form of movement. "Not very professional of me, I know."

"Hmmm, again with the manners. Refreshing." He opened the folder and set it down in front of himself, only casually looking over everything within. "Ah, yes. Miss Sarah Loch, the poor girl. 21, a model university student, and a very promising career in medical sciences. Lovely girl from the videos I was shown of her work." He looked up, his face taking on a quite serious edge that didn't seem to fit on the egnimatic doe. "And cut down in all her prime by a savage bastard. Bloody awful."

Judy nodded wholeheartedly, a grim agreement going unsaid in her eyes. Her brow narrowed as that simmering anger was starting to come to boil again. Just the photos of her being happy and carefree one minute, to then being utterly devestated and felled the next, it was more to her right now than anything. That image of the smiling rabbit girl was almost burned into her mind whenever she closed her eyes and thought of this case... as was the surreal murder scene, why would anyone have laid her out in such a despicable manner? She could feel herself shaking, other cases would be like this. She'd always remember these gruesome ones.

"Calm yourself, love." Jack chided gently, leaning back in his high-back chair, and she stopped thinking a moment as he spoke, realising how hard she had been breathing. "This will get solved, oh, no doubt about that. We know of Xavier, we've seen him in for all sorts of robbery and such, but murder puts him further up in the books, into my department. I've already dispatched teams to known addresses and the like. But now, _you_ Miss Hopps-" He pointed those slim manicured hands to her, "-will be helping with that, which means he will be found faster, if your work on the Belleweather case is anything to go by. As a result, he wont be able to do something else as equally bloody stupid, hopefully ever again. This is of course going to spell a life sentence for him."

She nodded in agreeance, she certainly would be doing everything in her power to bring Xavier to justice.

"I'll call in someone, you'll be on their squad, alright? Two seconds, please." Strider smiled, picking up his desk phone and hitting a quick speed-dial. It took bare moments before he spoke again. "Hello, Kitty." There was a pause, Jack idly, almost wistfully boring holes into the ceiling with his eyes. "Yeah, if you aint busy... Yeah, it's about that case... right-o then, bye, lovey." The conversation had been short and to the point. He nodded a thanks to Judy for waiting, placing the phone down, and tapping his fingers on the desk. Barely minutes later the door opened, and a striking white wolf, leaned in, just hanging in the doorway.

"Jack, what can I do for you, then?" She said, speaking as if she was tired of him. Her steely brown eyes turned down to look at Hopps, then back to Jack, who was still smiling in his way. "Assigning her to my squad?"

It was a fast assessment, Judy fondly regarded.

"Course. Problem with it?" Jack asked, playing with a pen he'd picked up from his desk.

"Nope. Not at all, _Sir_." She abjured with a cocky tone, taking on a small, almost gleeful grin at Judy, that made her feel slightly uncomfortable in the creaking seat. Like she was dinner, for some reason. "Come on, little poster bunny, with me then. We gotta hurry it up though." She didn't move from her odd in-door-hang position, half leaning on the handle and doorframe alike, but her eyes shot up to the Lieutenants. "She's gonna need a gun."

Judy's ears noticeably perked to that statement, and her insides knotted up.

A gun? She hadn't even seen a proper firearm during the Belleweather incident. The former assistant had used a dart gun of sorts, and before she and Nick had... _cleared out_ of the old hospital the abducted predators had been in, she had caught a bare glimpse of one of the timber wolf guards holding a taser, but that was it.

He tilted his head in a silent acknoledgement. "I trust you'll see her straight."

Kat nodded, "Straight as a knife."

"Knives can be curved, and serrated." He said back to her, almost matter-of-factly, causing her to sigh.

"Shut-up, Jack." She said, waving the hand resting on the doorway towards Judy, who was watching their conversation. "On your feet, girl, time's wasting." Judy balked for a second at the command and sheer rudeness she displayed towards her superior, nodding quickly and getting down off the chair, pacing with a quickness towards the wolf, who mock-saluted her superior with a final comment. "Seeya, Jackie."

As Judy followed Kat from his office, he shouted after them.

"That's _Lieutenant_ Jackie to you, Catherine!"

* * *

The station armoury was rather daunting to Judy.

She wished Nick was here.

It wasn't the chill in the air from the open windows, or the odd way everything was so perfectly clean, it wasn't the fact that the place was as large as the station foyer, nor was it the semi-quiet reverberation of noises in another room adjacent to the armoury that was making her flinch continuously with the floor vibrating. No... it was the guns she saw right now. Big, metal things that fired metal death, they were lined on the walls in sections. Ranging from pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, to even a rather dominating looking heavy sniper rifle. What took her back the most, was the weird, incredibly worrying, and absolutely _massive_ _rocket launcher_ that was mounted above on one of the walls.

She stared at it, eyes wide and full of wonder, as Kat went over to a table and unholstered what up until now, Judy had believed was a stungun. But it wasn't, because it was actually a weighty looking, yet streamlined, pistol. She looked to that instead, feeling like she shouldn't dare to get closer at all, as if the thing was going to come to life and shoot her like a target dummy.

"Heh, like that hanging on the wall? It's an old decom'd anti-tank weapon from the 70's. Welcome to the armoury, Hopps." Kat said to Judy, pulling the magazine from the weapon. She began to quickly field strip it and check the gun as Judy nodded, pacing over to where the wolf was working. In seconds the pistol was apart, then back together, and the magazine loaded. Flicking the safety on, Kat holstered it again. "Sorry, force of habit, always check my weapon whenever I come into the armoury. Already did just before coming to Jack's office, but... you never know, gun could jam itself."

"That sounds like a good practice, Ma'am." Judy smiled. Better safe than sorry, right?

Kat leant on the table, looking down at the rabbit. "My name's Catherine, you probably heard Jack say; but everyone calls me Kat. I'm a Sergeant under him, so just go by the title if it aint a fuss, being called 'Ma'am' makes me feel like an old woman, I'm only twenty-nine." She smiled good-naturedly. Judy nodded to the request politely, before Kat spoke again. "So what's your training like? I assume you know your way around a firearm like my piece here?"

Judy eyed the gun, now back safely in its holster. "Not exactly, Ma'a- Sergeant. I know how to fight hand-to-hand, use a stungun... but at the academy it was more about fitness and training your endurance than anything. We only had a basic firearms course." She drummed her fingers on the metal table, to which she barely reached. "There was a smaller focus on the firearms training. We had two sessions daily for a few weeks, the first of which was a basic rundown of field stripping and maintainence, and the rules regarding proper firearm usage, you know; keep the gun pointed at the ground; never rest your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot... stuff like that."

"The second?" Kat asked, seemingly not impressed with the lack of training so far.

"The second was actual... shooting." Judy uttered that last word like it was alien to her. It wasn't something she was used to at all. "It was... hard for me. They issued out some training weaponry that I had a lot of trouble holding, and my ears were pretty sensitive to the sound, problem with the ear defenders. Too big."

Kat nodded, sighing slightly. "Well... that aint gonna help out too much. If you're coming on cases where murderers are concerned, you're gonna need a gun, and be able to shoot it. If you got put on this case, it's at least because you passed your basic IFC though, otherwise -I'm guessing Bogo- wouldn't have assigned you to it." She tapped her own fingers on the table as well, then pointed over to the wall. "But you're in luck; over there, see that cabinet? Special compact weapons for smaller mammals, believe it or not. Grab a pistol, doesn't matter which, come to the range."

She _really_ didn't want to do that.

Regardless, Judy did as she asked, going over to the small black container. She warily grasped the handles, opening it as if something were going to leap out towards her. Nothing did, of course, and she was greeted by the sight of some rather interesting looking pistols. Not being an expert on different weapons, she hadn't a clue as to what any of these were called save for the snub-nose revolver, as she'd seen that a lot in action films, and what resembled the same sidearm they'd trained with back in the academy. The guns inside this cabinet looked incredibly... chunky? They looked smaller than the other weaponry on the wall, yes, but they seemed to be bigger on the framework.

Deciding on a whim she'd likely regret, to go with the one that looked like the pistol Kat had, she gingerly wrapped her hand around the lethal object. It was cold, and picking it up served to realise it was also _quite_ heavy. The safety was on already, so she pointed it at the ground when she'd taken it from the cabinet, finger to the side of the weapon. May as well show the Sergeant she knew her trigger discipline. She looked back inside it to see the thing the weapon had been resting on; a holster. She guessed she'd want that as well. She took a moment to go and place the pistol on the table, going back over, grabbing the holster, removing her belt, and attaching the holster to it. She put the belt back on, and went to grab the pistol again.

"USP S-Compact." Kat told her. "Solid choice. Assuming you went with one like mine?"

Judy nodded, eyes going over the holstered gun Kat had. She managed to lift the gun she took from the table, the _USP_ , slotting it into its own-made holster.

It was strange, this new weight on her hip. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel safer, in a way.

"Odd they didn't have Super-Compacts at the academy... Then again, they are fairly new." Kat shrugged nonchalantly, turning around. She headed over to a door that was clearly marked with a safety warning which Judy recognised immediately. She hoped the ear defenders here might fit her better, otherwise the clear safety warning of 'All officers must wear ear defenders at all times' sort of fell flat. It was a boon then, that Kat handed her what looked like childrens headphones from a rack next to the door. "Here, special-made for smaller mammals as well."

It was a nice touch, the station having been supplied with new equipment like this. Good preperation for the future no doubt. She accepted them gratefully, slipping them onto her head almost like a headband, so her ears could be angled downwards and be covered properly. Kat had already fitted her own, so she opened the door, which Judy realised was padded with sound-proofing on the other side when they walked though.

Even with the defenders on, it was still jarringly nerve-racking to hear the continuous expulsion of gunfire, however quietened, considering the vibrations ran up though her feet and made her teeth almost tingle. Just something she'd have to get used to as well now, there was a feeling in her mind that she'd have to be using guns much more within the coming days, if she was to help hunt down a murderer. There were several others using the range; the source of all the noise, mainly wolves and tigers it seemed. She supposed it would be the case, as they were great at tracking scents and being fast, after all. Every mammal had their unique talents.

A number of heads turned at hearing the buzzer sound of someone entering the range, a few officers nodded to the Sergeant, and continued their sessions, and of course, recognised Judy and couldn't help but spare a laugh toward the gun that looked massive on her hip. She smiled back cockily with a tilt upward of the chin as if to say 'Yes I'm aware the gun is about as big as me'. Kat came up behind her, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Alright Hopps, let's see how you do. I know you've had the training, but it never hurts for a refresher. First things first, come over here." Kat told her, leading to a bull that was working behind a meshed half-shutter in a joined room. Judy recognised it as a supply room, the bull being a Quartermaster. Judy followed over and then unholstered her own weapon as Kat did. "Ammo's over here with Vargo. That USP you're using doesn't take standard ammunition like mine. Yours is small, but what it lacks in size, it makes up in sheer caliber." Vargo, the bull, said a hello to Kat, going to grab the ammunition she'd need, probably already knowing what she used.

"What's the bunny usin'?" He grunted, looking down to Judy with a glint in his eye.

"It's a USP-SC. .45 ACP." She revealed, which didn't mean much to Judy, but Vargo laughed, so she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. He came back a minute later with two boxes of bullets, and some spare magazines, sliding them under the shutter. Kat took them dilligently, handing the box marked 'Forty-Five Automtic Colt Pistol Ammunition', and the mags, to Judy, who accepted them, albeit with a little confusion with the ammo while trying to hold the heavy box. Wasn't 'Colt' another type of gun entirely? Kat moved away and back towards the range. "Thanks, Varg."

Judy hadn't spoken much during this whole thing, she didn't feel much like it. She'd nodded to most of the things Catherine had said, but her thoughts were still being clouded by this Sarah Loch deal. She really wasn't certain if that was good or bad. Kat had grabbed her own lane, and gestured Judy to grab the one next to her, who'd automatically gone over. She was too short as the range had likely been built with larger mammals in mind for 'back in the day', nicely though, she'd been given a stool by Kat.

She didn't even care that she might have looked like a child. Her concern right now, even with her thoughts consumed by the case, was the weight she carried, both figuratively and literally. Watching the wolf take her pistol from its holster, she faced about down range and did the same, ejecting the USP's empty magazine, and gently placing the gun down onto the sill.

Loading the bullets into a magazine quickly and quietly, she did the same for another two, then taking up the weighty pistol and pushing the mag up into the weapon with a click, as a target dummy came down from the ceiling. She held her breath in anticipation as Kat looked to her.

"Take your time for now. Breathe, aim, breathe out, squeeze." Kat smiled. "Should be much easier than it was at the academy."

"Hopefully, Sergeant." She replied, finding her voice. She did take several breaths to calm her nerves, facing back downrange. This was it. The heavy pistol came up, slightly shaky, the business end pointing towards the dummy. The training she'd been taught flashed through her mind. Back straight, stand side on, rest your weight on the front leg, keep your arms straight, be wary of recoil, and don't close your damned eyes, Hopps! The last bit was blaringly obvious, really, her old instructors voice echoing in her ears. The target dummy remained still as her firearm threatened its spongey life.

She did indeed take a deep breath in, holding the cumbersome block of metal as steady as possible. She released the safety with her thumb, and pulled back the slide, loading a bullet into the gun chamber. She focused on the dummy intently, thinking to go for a headshot. Her finger carefully hovered over the trigger until she felt the cold piece of metal under it. With another deep breath in, she took aim and breathed out.

It felt as if it it took forever to finally squeeze the trigger.

She was taken aback slightly, the weapon jarring in her hands violently as it barked out the round. She held steady enough, but the kickback was felt intensely in her arms and shoulders. Exhaling, she realised she was sweating. Looking over to Kat, who glanced with a small measure of sympathy. "Don't worry. You'll hit it next time." She smiled. "Take your time, that looked like it took a lot out of you."

She'd missed?

Squinting down the lane, she indeed saw the dummy remained intact. That just annoyed her. She took aim again, inhaling a breath, focusing. The dummy wasn't going anywhere, and neither was she. She focused instead, on the targets midsection. Small steps, Judy. Lining up the leaden USP, ignoring the burning ache in her small but toned arms as she held up the weapon, she poured her concentration into just that small ridge in the middle of the chest. Inhaling another deep breath, her finger gently squeezed on the trigger until she was certain with an exhale, and fired.

 _Koom!_

This time, the USP sounded more like a roar as opposed to a bark, she thought, painfully aware of the recoil forcefully pushing the weapon back, causing her weight to rest upon her back foot to stop herself from falling from the stool. There was a soft _thump_ as the round impacted into the dummy. Her limbs were on fire, shaking as she lowered the gun, she hadn't seen where it'd hit, but she'd definitely heard it.

"Nice shot, kill shot." Kat commented, nodding with approval. "Now I've got that song running through my head." Judy wondered what she was on about for a moment, until Kat pressed a button next to Judy so that the dummy was slowly reeled in. The system whined as it glided on its railing over to them, and Judy saw she'd actually somehow managed to shoot the dummy _just_ about in the heart. "Gimmie a few more shots like that, if you can."

Judy grimaced upon the request, she felt like she been hit by a truck. Nonetheless, she sucked it up, she'd been through way more intense situations in academy training after all. Again, she steadily repeated the actions already taken, and amazingly she managed to do so without passing out from the exertion of holding something this damn heavy for so long. She fired three times in moderate succession, stopping for a few minutes to let her body rest from the recoil alone, before doing so again, until the magazine was empty and the weapon went click.

"T-there..." Judy groaned, feeling as if she'd run that Sahara Square training circuit all over again, twice, in one sitting, while sprinting for the entire duration, with no breaks, carrying a full pack. "Think I might have missed some though..." She was right, but at least it hadn't been many, she saw, as the dummy came sliding in. She'd had eight shots, she missed the first one, hit the second... a majority of shots were within the upper chest area at least, one within the neck, and another just to the lower left of the belly, that must have been quite an off-shoot, she hadn't aimed there whatsoever. In total, she'd missed three. She was actually quite pleased with that, considering this was the first time she'd actually used a gun _mostly_ her size.

"Not too bad, Rookie." Kat smiled lazily. "It aint gonna win you a position with the snipers in the ZPD, but it'll do, for now." She pressed the button next to the lane she had been shooting at, retracting her own target dummy. Judy hadn't even noticed her firing the larger weapon, too focused on the astute loudness of her own. Judy let out an appreciative whistle when it came to full stop, and its battle scars could be seen. All the fired shots were within the head and upper chest. "I had fifteen in my mag. ten are in the head, five are in the chest." Judy counted the holes out of curiousity... yes, they were indeed. Kat straightened herself, ejecting the magazine from her gun, loading in a fresh one from Vargo, and flicking the safety on, then holstering it. Kat, still straight-backed, fixed Judy with an authoritative stare. "You're a cop in my squad now, Hopps. The reason for that, is because Jackie likes to stick the rookies under my command when he can. Reason he does that, is because I'm less of a hardass than other Sergeants; I care for the new guys." Her expression softened, and she gently tapped Judy's defenders with the back of her two front fingers, "So try to relax, will ya? You had any more starch in your trousers, you'd be a damn potato."

Judy laughed a little, but admonished to herself. "With respect, Sergeant; this case is going to be one of the most important in my career. I can't afford to let loose right now, not with that... that bastard on the loose, not when he could kill again..." Her expression turned sour, looking to her toes clenching and unclenching. That pit within her had flared up again, it was a bed of coals being stoked, occasionally being thrown a stick of kindling when the case came to attention.

"Suit yourself, Rookie." Kat nodded with a reproachful smile. "But don't let it consume you, alright? Last thing we need is you unable to perform your duties properly because you're too focused on this one thing. You make mistakes that way."

"I know." Judy agreed, looking back up at her. "I'm just saying this is important to me. I appreciate the concern though, truly."

"Not a problem, Hopps." She wrapped up, looking to the clock on the wall. "Well, that was _my_ break. I'm gonna head out soon, follow a lead on Xavier. Rest of the team are out already, so you're with me." She beckoned the rabbit with a smile. "But lets get some more ammo first, huh? You never want to run out when things get serious. 'No cop who ever died, died because they didn't have their weapon loaded', my old instructor used to say."

* * *

Judy craned her neck gently until she heard it pop.

With a satisfied groan, she stretched, popping other stiff joints while the squad car drove smoothly down the road. With Kat driving, she could relax to a great degree, which was lovely for her recovery post-armoury visit, she already felt better after twenty minutes just sitting down. They were headed to the Rainforest District, following talk of a location of Xaviers that he frequented. There had been a call on the radio earlier that one of the groups had found one of the tigers hideouts, the place having been deserted rather recently. It filled Judy with a deeper sense of determination; he was already being closed in on within hours of his crime, and it was heartwarming to know the ZPD cracked down so fast upon such things.

The nicer parts of Savanna Central eventually faded away, until even within such a beautiful city as Zootopia, the buildings, so pristine and neat, gave way to the places forgotten by the sprawling metropolis; the derelict and worn down. It was strange for Judy to see, that such rundown areas could exist within reality, but then her thoughts switched to the image of the creepy, grim death of Sarah, and the place that had been called her murder scene. The fire within her bloomed like a rose again, but she kept the anger down, looking to her surroundings, passing through a place called 'Pack Street'. She found herself smiling as she saw an old badger hand a young arctic fox some food as they drove by, even a fluffy Ram chatting with a buff-looking tiger. It was nice to see a sense of community in an area like this, especially between Prey and Predator following recent events.

The rundown and broken too, gradually disappeared, making way for the outskirts of more sturdy plantlife.

They came up to a T-junction in the road that branched into a fork on its right side; one road leading elsewhere in Savanna Central, the other leading to the Rainforest District. Kat folded into the traffic, and they continued onto their destination. Judy's thoughts swirled around, until she was brought out of them by a finger poking her side.

"So, Hopps, where you from?" Kat asked, a smile brought on from making Judy jump slightly, attached to her striking features.

"Oh... Bunny Burrow, Sergeant." Judy said, glancing to the wolf.

"Hm! Country girl, eh? Thought I heard a slight twang in your voice." Kat grinned, "What made you want to come to the big city?"

Judy smiled back, gesturing around herself. "This. I wanted to become a police officer."

Kat nodded, stealing another glance to her, "Good to have dreams." She continued while keeping her eyes on the road, which was different, Judy realised. They'd entered the Rainforest Districts outskirts it seemed, the sudden change in foliage and scenery was abrupt from the plantlife at Savannah. Kat continued talking while her eyes looked over on occasion. "Is it everything you thought it'd be, Rookie?"

"Of course!" Judy insisted with an eager nod. "I've been helping make Zootopia a better place, alongside everyone else."

"That's good." Kat smiled, "As long as you're happy, right?"

Judy nodded again. She was making a difference.

As the small talk died down, the trees rose up, they were as tall as some skyscrapers within Savanna Central now. There were shops and homes appearing, some built into the massive trees themselves, or built alongside them, connected like a part of the forest. It was beautiful, Judy marveled at the creativity. The majority of residents within the Rainforest appeared to be jaguars, otters, sloths, and bears. Judy hadn't seen many bears within the Downtown area that weren't polar bears, so it was interested to see them properly.

"Never been here before?" Kat asked, quite amused at Judy's wonder of the place.

"Last time I was here, I didn't exactly have the chance to look around properly." Judy said, still looking everywhere she could.

"Well, our location is a few left and rights." Kat replied, "So you'll need to look have a proper look around some other time."

Judy understood that as 'Time to prepare and focus'. With a nod, she psyched herself up mentally; they were after a murderer, a murdering _predator_ that killed with his own hands, she'd need to be very careful here. Kat soon brought the vehicle to a stop, yanking on the handbrake and looking around. They'd pulled up just across from a row of shabby looking cabins that _just_ didn't quite fit in with the scenery, maybe it was just Judy's imagination. She really wished Nick was here, she felt something that just didn't sit right with her, and it wasn't her fear, no it was instinct telling her something wasn't right. Usually she listened to that. Right now, she squashed the feeling, it wasn't her call to make.

This wasn't the Belleweather case, this was different. She couldn't afford to be taking any risks. Chief Bogo was counting on her good performance, likely hoping she didn't act up. She believed he appreciated her efforts, making it clear from his intention of a promotion that he was trusting her here a massive degree. She did not want to let him down, she respected him too much. By the book, Hopps, you can do this.

It was just her and the Sergeant.

She wished Nick was here.

Kat left the vehicle with her pistol unholstered in her hands, Judy followed suit. Together they moved up to one cabin Kat signalled out. She leaned over and tried to look though the window, but the density of the Rainforest climate had fogged up the glass both inside and out. With a firm knock on the door, she spoke.

"Xavier Dremond, this is the ZPD! If you're in there, open the door, now! We have a warrant for your arrest!" She commanded, her voice sure, powerful. "Come out peacefully, or we'll have to enter by force!"

It was in that moment, that Judy Hopps had an epiphany:

Blood was the most disturbing shade of scarlet.

* * *

 **A/N:**

I had hoped (Hopp'ed?) to get to 10k+ on the wordcount, but as is I felt it'd been too long without an update, and this seemed like a very annoying cliffhanger to leave off on, so there was that.

Thanks to the reviews I've had thus far. Please leave one if you liked what you read! They fuel my writing. o3o

Next chapter is in progress.

Edit: General spelling mistakes, additional lines, and grammar issues fixed.


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